Ihyaaud Deen An Effort to Revive Deen in Totality
Hazrat Sa’d bin Mu’aaz (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) was a great Sahaabi of Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) and the leader of the Aws tribe of the Ansaar of Madinah Munawwarah. Allah Ta‘ala blessed him with many beautiful qualities and a great amount of wisdom, on account of which he benefited the Muslims tremendously. Allah Ta‘ala also made him the means of his entire tribe embracing Islam. Below is the incident of how he embraced Islam and how he became the means for his entire tribe embracing Islam:
In the eleventh year after nubuwwah, a group of six people of the Ansaar came from Madinah Munawwarah to Makkah Mukarramah for haj. Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) met them in a place in Mina called Aqabah and invited them to Islam, upon which they all brought imaan. They then told Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) that on returning to Madinah after haj, they would spread the message of Islam among their people.
Accordingly, when they returned to Madinah Munawwarah, they began to invite the people to Islam. As a result, Islam to spread among the people of Madinah, until there was not a home of the Ansaar in Madinah Munwaarah which did not know about Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) and Islam.
The First Pledge of Aqabah
The following year, a group of twelve people of the Ansaar came for haj and met Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) at Aqabah. Five among them were the same six people who had come and embraced Islam the previous year at Aqabah, while an additional seven people joined them. These twelve people took the pledge of allegiance at the blessed hands of Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam). This pledge was known as the First Pledge of Aqabah.
Hazrat Abdullah bin Umm-e-Maktoom and Hazrat Mu’ab bin Umair (radhiyallahu ‘anhuma) Teaching Deen and Inviting to Islam in Madinah Munawwarah
After pledging their allegiance to Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam), when this group was returning to Madinah Munawwarah after the haj, Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) despatched Hazrat Abdullah bin Umm-e-Maktoom (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) and Hazrat Mus’ab bin Umair (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) with them to teach the people of Madinah Munawwarah the Qur’aan Majeed and the injunctions of Islam. After coming to Madinah Munawwarah, they stayed in the home of Hazrat As’ad bin Zuraarah (radhiyallahu ‘anhu), and began inviting people towards Islam.
The Islam of Hazrat Usaid bin Hudhair (radhiyalahu ‘anhu)
One day, Hazrat Mus’ab (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) was delivering a sermon in front of a large crowd of people, inviting them to Islam. On hearing of this, Usaid bin Hudhair immediately picked up his spear, came to him and said, “What have you come here for? Why are you misleading our women and children? It would be better if you left this place!”
Hazrat Mus’ab bin Umair (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) replied, “Is it possible for you to sit down for a little while and listen to what I have to say? If it pleases you, you may accept it, and it if does not please you, then you may leave it.” Usaid replied, “Undoubtedly, you have presented a fair and reasonable proposal.” Saying this, he sat down, after which Hazrat Mus’ab (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) explained the beauty of Islam to him and also recited verses of the Qur’aan Majeed before him.
On hearing the verses of the Qur’aan Majeed, Usaid exclaimed, “How excellent and beautiful are these words which you have recited!” He then asked Hazrat Mus’ab (radhiyallahu ‘anhu), “What is the procedure for embracing Islam?” Hazrat Mus’ab (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) replied, “Firstly, you should cleanse your body and clothing and take a bath. Thereafter, recite the Kalimah Shahaadah and perform salaah.”
Hazrat Usaid (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) immediately stood up, went and cleansed his clothing, took a bath, recited the Kalimah Shahaadah and then performed two rakaats of salaah. He then said, “There is another person (referring to Sa’d bin Mu’aaz, the leader of the Aws tribe) who is such that if he embraces Islam, not a single member of the Aws tribe will hesitate to embrace Islam. Let me go to him now, and I will try to send him to you.” Hazrat Usaid bin Hudhair (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) then left.
When Sa’d bin Mu’aaz had seen him approaching, he said, “It does not seem that the Usaid who is returning is the same Usaid who had left here earlier on.” As Hazrat Usaid (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) drew closer, Sa’d asked him, “What has transpired?” Hazrat Usaid (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) replied that he had embraced Islam, and further explained the reason for him accepting Islam saying, “I did not find anything objectionable in his words (i.e. the words of Hazrat Mus’ab [radhiyallahu ‘anhu]).”
Hearing this, Sa’d bin Mu’aaz was overcome with anger, and wielding his spear, he personally set out for the home of Hazrat As’ad bin Zuraarah ([radhiyallahu ‘anhu], who was the host of Hazrat Mus’ab [radhiyallahu ‘anhu]).
As he reached Hazrat As’ad (radhiyallahu ‘anhu), Sa’d addressed him with anger and said, “If it was not because of your family relationship with me, and if you were not my cousin, then I would have dealt with you with this spear right now! Are you the one who has brought him (i.e. Hazrat Mus’ab [radhiyallahu ‘anhu]) here to misguide the people?”
Hazrat Mus’ab (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) responded to this saying, “O Sa’d! Is it possible for you to sit down for a moment and listen to my message? If you find my words pleasing to you, then you may accept them, otherwise you are free to do as you please.” Hearing this, Sa’d replied, “What you propose is reasonable and fair.” Saying this, he immediately sat down.
Hazrat Sa’d (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) Embraces Islam
Hazrat Mus’ab (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) then presented Islam to him and also recited a few verses of the Qur’aan Majeed before him. As soon as he heard the verses of the Qur’aan Majeed, his heart was so affected that his facial condition and colour changed and he spontaneously asked, “How do I enter into this beautiful religion?”
Hazrat Mus’ab (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) replied, “Firstly, you should cleanse your clothing and take a bath. Thereafter, recite the Kalimah Shahaadah and perform two rakaats of salaah.” Hazrat Sa’d (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) immediately stood, took a bath, recited the Kalimah Shahaadah and performed two rakaats of salaah.
Immediately thereafter, he stood and went to the gathering of his people. As his people saw him coming from a distance, they observed that his facial condition and colour had changed and there was something different about him.
The Tribe of Hazrat Sa’d (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) Embrace Islam
As he reached their gathering, Hazrat Sa’d (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) addressed his people saying, “What opinion do you people hold regarding me?” They unanimously replied, “You are our leader. As far as your understanding, decision-making and giving us good counsel in all matters is concerned, you are the best among us.” Hazrat Sa’d (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) then declared, “By Allah! I will not speak to any of you until and unless each one of you brings imaan in Allah and His Rasul (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam)!”
The result of this was that before the evening, there was not a single man or woman of the Banu Abdil Ash-hal tribe, which was a clan of the Aws, who had not embraced Islam, with the exception of one person. However, this person also later on embraced Islam. In this way, Allah Ta‘ala caused Hazrat Sa’d (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) to become the means for his entire tribe embracing Islam.
(Rowdh-ul-Unuf 2/245-260, Al-Ishaarah pg. 147, Zaad-ul-Ma’ad 3/46, Uyoon-ul-Athar 1/184, Seeratul Mustafa 1/331-335)
